Programs & Services

CTN provides a number of programs and services to support children with multiple special needs and their families. Delivered through our partner organizations these services help support families where they need it most—at home, school or in the community.

We are committed to providing our clients and their families with high quality services. Please note that some of our clinics, programs and services stop serving children and youth at specific ages due to ministry guidelines. If you have a question about when specific services will end for you or your child please contact us.

We welcome your feedback through our family relations policy (complaints and compliments). Please visit our policies for instructions on how to share your feedback.

Accessing Service

Parents and professionals are welcome to connect with the services and support available across CTN by calling ACCESS at 1-866-377-0286 and connecting with a service navigator.

Most programs have eligibility requirements. Some may require assessments and/or referrals from physicians or other service providers. Our service navigators will be able to work with you to determine the supports your child/youth and family would benefit from. They can also guide you through the referral process for both CTN services and services delivered through other agencies.

Our service navigators also lay the groundwork for coordinated care planning. They discuss your child’s needs, open a shared electronic record and get your consent for the physicians and professionals who work with your family to share information so they can take a team approach to your child’s care.

CTN recognizes the diversity of the communities we serve. Service navigation is available in French. We can also arrange for interpretation in other languages to assist families who do not speak English or French.

Ontario Autism Program (OAP) Intake

CTN and Kinark work together to provide intake for the publicly-funded Ontario Autism Program (OAP) in Simcoe County and York Region. This service is available to children and youth with a confirmed diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. For information on OAP intake please click here.

Audiology

Audiology services focus on the prevention, identification, assessment, treatment and (re)habilitation of hearing loss for children with multiple special needs. The CTN audiologist will also make recommendations for the management of hearing loss and provide education and hearing-related counseling services for families.

Augmentative Communication

Some children with special needs have challenges speaking verbally and benefit from using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices. CTN's Augmentative Communication Consultation Service (ACCS) helps these children and families find ways to communicate. ACCS is one of Ontario’s General Level Augmentative Communication Clinics. The Ministry of Health Assistive Devices Program authorizes us to provide appropriate AAC services to children and youth with home based complex communication needs.

Brief Family Resourcing

This service provides families with up to three sessions with a service coordinator to help with funding applications and accessing services. This support can be especially helpful to families who are waiting for service coordination, have a new diagnosis or are preparing for a transition.

Child and Family Counselling

Our child and family therapists have expertise in child and youth development and mental health. This service can be focused on building the child/family’s coping skills and resilience, grief and loss, social, emotional, relationship or adjustment concerns. The therapists provide counselling to families who are receiving other CTN services.

Developmental Assessment and Consultation Services

This is an interdisciplinary service that provides diagnostic assessments and medical consultation to those children with complex medical and developmental needs. Assessments for a variety of conditions, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), are conducted by developmental specialists. This may include Physicians, Speech Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists and Psychologists. Medical consultation for children with multiple special needs is provided by Developmental Pediatricians and other team members as needed.

Feeding

Feeding Assessment and Consultation Services (FACS) provides assessment and treatment for children and youth with feeding and swallowing difficulties. Issues may include difficulty transitioning to solids, significantly restricted food choices putting the child at risk for dehydration or weight loss, failure to thrive, coughing or choking while eating/drinking, history of upper respiratory infections, significant reflux, recent transition from tube feedings to oral feedings or feeding challenges due to severe motor or neurological involvement. Our team may include a Speech Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, Registered Dietitian and/or Pediatrician, based upon the specified areas of concern.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy focuses on increasing a child’s ability to perform activities associated with their daily life. This may include self-care skills such as eating or dressing; school and academic activities such as printing or keyboarding; play activities such as manipulating toys or taking turns; and work skills such as taking a bus or organizing a resume. Our Occupational Therapist (OT) will work with the child/youth and family to determine the best approach to increasing independence and participation in a wide variety of activities. Our OT may also be involved in the assessment and prescription of various equipment to assist your child or youth to be more independent or to perform a task with less effort or pain.

Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy provides intervention and support services to prevent or improve movement difficulties and promote functional mobility. Physiotherapy can help to maximize movement, independence, and participation of your child at home, school and in the community. A comprehensive assessment helps you and your therapist understand your child's motor skills and interests.

An individualized treatment program will be developed for your child based on discussion with you about assessment findings and shared goals. Our therapists can also offer practical suggestions to help your child and family achieve improved motor function.

Psychological Services

Psychological Services offers psychological and/or neuropsychological assessment and consultation for children and youth who have complex medical and/or neurological issues. Our assessments are often requested to understand more about your child's thinking, learning and emotional skills in relation to a particular medical condition (e.g., acquired brain injury, premature birth, etc.).

Recreation and Leisure Services

All children and youth deserve to have fun! Participating in recreation and leisure activities such as adapted sports, community activities and social gatherings are important to your child or youth’s physical, emotional, social and cognitive development and overall quality of life. The CTN Therapeutic Recreationist is a resource for the community to assist children with multiple special needs to achieve maximum participation in recreation and leisure activities. The Therapeutic Recreationist works with various services and families to support the availability of appropriate recreation and leisure activities.

Seating and Mobility

The seating and mobility service assists any therapist working with a CTN client requiring assistance with a complex seating or mobility equipment prescription. Assistive Devices Program (ADP) applications can be completed for therapists who are not ADP authorizers. Our role is to assist the treatment therapist with the prescription and accompanying paperwork. We also provide regular in-services on a variety of topics relevant to seating and mobility equipment and prescription and run annual Bike and Trike Fair in the spring.

Single Plan of Care Coordination

CTN provides families who access multiple services with an integrated care plan that focuses on their vision for their family. Single plan of care coordination brings a child and family’s entire team together and outlines how the team will work collaboratively to achieve your family’s visions—at home, school and in the community.

Spasticity Management

Spasticity refers to a change in their muscle tone/muscle stiffness and is often related to cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury and spinal cord injury. Our team works with children, youth and their families to learn how spasticity affects their comfort, care, daily activities and participation. After a comprehensive team assessment that includes consultation with a physician, physiotherapist and/or occupational therapist treatment options are recommended.

Our service works in conjunction with team therapists to ensure monitoring and follow up. Families can speak to their CTN team members about whether this service might be helpful.